Random Photos ‘You took’

[special-K]

What's this white stuff? It was upper-70s here today. Just today. Mid-50s tomorrow then 30s on Saturday. Might see snow here

Nice tug picture.

[FleetsidePaul]

Originally Posted by special-K

What's this white stuff? It was upper-70s here today. Just today. Mid-50s tomorrow then 30s on Saturday. Might see snow here

No such luck here. I just read the weather report and it don't sound good.

Here's the report that I read.


LOS ANGELES (AP) — A coast-to-coast storm that paralyzed roads and blacked out nearly 1 million homes and businesses was set to pound California on Friday, sparking warnings about floods and blizzards.

The National Weather Service warned of a “cold and dangerous winter storm" through Saturday. As much as 5 feet (1.5 meters) of snow could fall in some mountains near Los Angeles, which could create whiteout conditions as winds gust to 75 mph (120 kph) and an increased risk of avalanches, forecasters said.

The weather service issued rare blizzard warnings for Southern California mountain areas and urged drivers to avoid dangerous roads.

Storms already have battered the Plains states and northern regions of the country for days and the National Weather Service predicted continuing problems from ice, snow and freezing rain into the weekend.

My wife was going to go to work yesterday and I told her to be sure to put the Jeep in 4 wheel drive and she asked " How do you do that?

She made it to the end of the block and turned around. Snow day.

Random photo that I took in my buddy's barn.

[Boog]

I just saw on the news that a major highway just 30 miles north of LA are shut down due to snow. Sunny LA. Huh..


Stalled project pic.

[FleetsidePaul]

Originally Posted by Boog

I just saw on the news that a major highway just 30 miles north of LA are shut down due to snow. Sunny LA. Huh..


Stalled project pic.

I haven't looked but that would probably be the Tejon Pass (The Grapevine) It gets really windy there. It gets shut down a lot. I hate driving on it on a good day. You couldn't pay me to drive on it today.

[Boog]

And snow dusting all around the big HOLLYWOOD sign. That's rare.

[special-K]

Huntington Beach '15

[yuccales]

No bench warming today!

[FleetsidePaul]

Originally Posted by yuccales

No bench warming today!

Yeah, that bench doesn't look too inviting at the moment. Talk about freezing your a** off!

Funny thing about the snow here. It melts fast. Almost none now and we were covered. We didn't get the catastrophic storm today that all the chicken little weather forecasters were squawking about. At least not here. The sun came out. It was still as frigid as my ex wife but not too bad. The roads were clear. I'll take that.

[special-K]

I didn't take that Huntington Beach picture, but I took this one outside my door back when we used to get snow

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by special-K

I didn't take that Huntington Beach picture, but I took this one outside my door back when we used to get snow

wowza, we here in NW Indiana got only a few inches this winter, I've seen my share of blizzards over the years.

[special-K]

I haven't touched my snow shovel this year. Plow boys are making zip! The Mid-Atlantic gets the full variety 'weather' we like it or not!

I got behind this workhorse going through the dogleg on Old Frederick Rd that parallels I-70. They rerouted it when they improved the state road crossing (MD97) as part of I-70 construction. It was good to see the ole boy still earning it's keep

[72c20customcamper]

Winter finally came . But it’ll be 48 and raining by Thursday .

[special-K]

We got rain. They said chance of snow but it was all rain, not even sleet. It was 55 today. Trees are budding. They say the Cherry Blossoms in DC will be flowering way early. May 15th is our frost free date. That's 2 1/2 months away! Makes me glad I took pictures other winters so I can see snow... that nobody messed up

[68bowtie]

Random photo I took of some air and water molecules.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

Random photo I took of some air and water molecules.

Attachment 2262282

Beauty, it's everywhere you look.

[special-K]

Beauty can be found everywhere, but not everywhere you look



Turn to the left and... (look up not down)

[Steeveedee]

^ So true. That one shot looks like my neighbor's yard.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

^ So true. That one shot looks like my neighbor's yard.

Funny you'd say that. Both pictures are my neighbors behind me. That's the back of my barn I just moved. I took the first picture after they turned me in for my buildings I built 15-20 years earlier. That was back in '07. The inspector didn't cite me on the barn but that is what they had the biggest problem with. The afternoon before the zoning variance hearing they had a survey crew come out to survey our side property line. Their place starts at my backline and along my sideline is their 15' easement for access. They look at my fence and I look at their rat farm. Funny thing is, here is the back corner stake, 14" beyond my fence. That's their trash shed 14" onto my property

Since then I've finished it off, windows, closed in under porch, new (higher) fence, soffit, fascia. Code states 5' offset and that is building footprint (foundation) and that's what it is. The steps and porch don't count. This picture was in '10. A month ago I finally did the soffit & fascia

Not always a good thing when they clean up, either. Burning trash on a clear blue sky day

The meadow beside us they are squatting on. They figure filling it with junk constitutes land use. Picture is '07. It's 5x junkier now

Another fall picture

[FleetsidePaul]

Originally Posted by special-K

The meadow beside us they are squatting on. They figure filling it with junk constitutes land use. Picture is '07. It's 5x junkier now

I don't get it. They move into a beautiful place and then proceed to trash it up. If they are squatting then it's probably a family thing but why trash the place. I've rented places, they weren't mine but I kept them up because that's where I lived. I probably took better care of them than my own stuff. And I certainly wouldn't piss off the neighbors... Well with the exception of noise. Guilty on that one. Party's, drums, electric guitars, and women yelling at me late at night doesn't always go over well with the ole neighbors. But the yard was always neat as a pin.

In all fairness to my neighbors, the party's did get a bit out of control. I knew that when the police showed up. Ah those were the days.

[special-K]

Well, it's a story. When I bought this place the realtor told me that property was tied up in a title dispute. I looked into it and it was between descendants of the man who built my house and a family who felt they bought it somewhere along the line. It was an unfenced meadow with a stream running through it, I kept it mowed, and all the kids had a place to play football, soccer, baseball, ride bikes, catch crayfish, etc. It runs way back along the house behind me. On my opposite side is an open lawn with a house (Wade & Joan) set back and up the hill. There is another house farther up, farther back, and farther away from my house was owned by the father (Jerry & Bonnie). He was our grandparent's age and he originally owned all that land, then sold the piece beside me to his son who built his house a few years before I got my place. Jerry's property went behind me and this house behind me and he also owned that house, a separate parcel. He rented that to his daughter (Debbie) & husband (Junior), then another daughter, then another son, then his brother, and back to Debbie who still lives there. When Jerry passed away she was sold the house for next to nothing. The daughter who was born since I've lived here is married with four children and lives with mom.

A builder guy who puts first right to refusal on properties with title disputes got the property with the stream. He divided it and built a house on the far side of the stream and back. I knew the lot beside me would never perk. One day this builder stopped by and asked if I wanted to make an offer. I said get me a copy of the plat so I knew what I was buying and I'd be glad to make an offer. Before that happened, I was mowing it , Jerry stopped by and said, "I appreciate you keeping my land mowed", and I never mowed it again, Jerry fenced it and put cows on it. He said he bought it but didn't have the title because IRS had a lien on the builder. Hard to believe money was exchanged but no title. In '07 I learned the truth. Jerry passed away and the junk started rolling in, fence is rotting away.

So, I am surrounded by this clan and it became obvious they resented that they didn't get my place to complete the puzzle. The woman who had lived here for ages refused to sell to Jerry. Little old me has no problem standing up to this clan and they would try to push their weight around. Proud of their ignorance and unconcerned with friendliness. One day I stood up to Junior not long after an incident with Wade and they turned me in for my screen house, woodshed, and barn I built w/o permits. The county was ok with the barn, but the result was I needed a zoning variance for being too close to the property lines. For the hearing I had to give notice to surrounding properties. Went to assayer's office for the land beside us and found that builder never paid taxes and the land is in the hands of county commissioners. I learned squatter's rights exist still, use for 20 years without owner complaint and title can be awarded to the squatter. That was Jerry's plan. When he passed, the 20 years reset for Debbie. That has probably passed now but she hasn't filed for title because that would mean commencing to pay property tax. So my county owns it, no complaint, and that allows these people to junk up the property they didn't buy and don't pay taxes on. That's the system at work

[FleetsidePaul]

Originally Posted by special-K

So my county owns it, no complaint, and that allows these people to junk up the property they didn't buy and don't pay taxes on. That's the system at work

Wow. Sounds a bit like the place across from me except they are nice and don't trash the place. But they don't fix it up either because they are all still fighting with each other over who's house it is. The old guy that lived there kept it kind of junky and not much has changed since he passed. He was a nice old guy but I guess that he left no will. So the family has been duking it out for the last few years. I think that every family member has lived there since his death only to be kicked out by another family member. I don't ask questions so I don't know details and don't want to know. They stop and talk to me and always trash talk the relative that was there before and I just keep my mouth shut and try to change the subject. Smile and nod.

They may not pay taxes at the moment but eventually those chickens are going to come home to roost. The government just doesn't forget chit like that. That's the one thing that government does efficiently... Taking your money.

[special-K]

Yep, that they do. The good news is I never turned them in for their zoning and building permit violations or the health dept. for their health violations. I don't want to start a war. Debbie is the only one left alive and the other two houses are out of the clan now. I have a better higher privacy fence and moving my barn recently puts the side offset within zoning code and I only have the one unregistered vehicle allowed by zoning code, and that's just my spare cab which is under a tarp. Probably doesn't even count. They consider a large part as a the one vehicle. Although they are slobs, I get along with and talk to the daughter and her husband. Debbie still has the cold heart she inherited but it's like she isn't even there. The younger family will be there after she croaks. He's a Squarebody guy, though his approach to trucks is not the same as mine. What counts here is he probably wouldn't like me much if I drove another brand . The little kids all love me. It's like I'm grandpa, but they call me Mr. Tim. They talk to me, tell me things with excitement, and I have handed down things like a pogo stick, trolley line, and a bicycle or two. I gave the dad my cast-off tires last year when I got new ones for my Suburban and they're on his '87 Suburban now. When I move it will be to the mountains. I'm no stranger to hillbillies and they keep me prepared for what will come . I'm not too far from being one myself, but do have some class. Things could be worse. I keep my place as best as I can and keep my junk consolidated in the far corner ... nearest to them

[HO455]

Originally Posted by special-K

What's this white stuff? It was upper-70s here today. Just today. Mid-50s tomorrow then 30s on Saturday.

Nice tug picture.

Thanks. I have lots more of them maybe someday I'll do a tugboat thread.

Boy, this not getting notifications about thread replys, sure makes it hard to keep up on posts. I don’t know how you do it.

[4u2nv]

My youngest son at work YIKES

[special-K]

Originally Posted by HO455

Thanks. I have lots more of them maybe someday I'll do a tugboat thread.

Boy, this not getting notifications about thread replys, sure makes it hard to keep up on posts. I don’t know how you do it.

A tug boat thread would be great. I sure don't have a chance to get pictures like you do, inside, out, and all about.

Originally Posted by 4u2nv

My youngest son at work YIKES

Yikes is right. We have a fellow member here who is a tower climber, Jimer64. He's no spring chicken and has been a climber a long time. You know how when up on high places you hear people say "Don't look down"? He's says the rule of thumb for tower climbers is "Don't look up", meaning don't look at the sky. The movement of clouds gives the feeling of the tower falling or moving. That ground way way down there just sitting still is their friend. The height factor is a given when you accept the job. Either you can do it or you can't.